Her One True King
by Mr. M.Mars
Summary: He neglected her, never showed her the affection that she so desperately craved. Yet, still she came to his aid. Perhaps it's not too late to atone for his sins... At least some of them, anyways.


This was made on a bit of a bet. A friend of mine said that he didn't think I could make a story that made him cry. At the time, I was feeling a bit nostalgic, so I decided to write this.

So a bit of a forewarning, this one is kinda sad.

Oh, and the picture credit goes to TLK-lleana on deviant art.

Anyways...

Enjoy!

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The booming thunder of the storm rang through Scar's ears, though the loud crack was muffled from the blood that had begun filling his ears. He had escaped the hyenas, as their cowardice nature proved to be to his benefit when the fire began to encircle them, causing them to flee in terror. The damage had already been done though. A steady stream of blood flowed from his torso and stomach, leaving a crimson trail in his wake.

He had made it to the open savanna, formally the grasslands, but there was no longer any grass to show for it. The wounded and broken lion ceased his walking, taking a moment to catch his breath. Each inhale felt like a dagger being shoved into his lungs. Was it punctured? Possibly…. Likely…

The pool of blood had begun to grow around his feet at this point. Scar took a moment to look down at the growing puddle, viewing his blood the same way as one would view the sand in an hourglass. As he gazed at the cause of his own impending death, he was able to catch a glimpse of his reflection in his blood before the rain washed it away. The scar on his left eye was bleeding profusely, so much so that his eye wasn't even visible… If it was even there at all for that matter. He recalled that one of the hyenas had taken a chomp at it when he first fell into the pit below Pride Rock, though he wasn't sure if they had gouged it or not. Initial pain was immense, greater than any he'd ever felt before. Now though it just felt numb.

Numb.

That's how he felt. Deadened, defeated, worthless.

He could have just lied down at Pride Rock and let the fires consume him, as it would have brought him a much quicker death than slowly bleeding out like a stuck warthog. However, he felt compelled, obligated to continue living as long as he could. But Why? His spirit was broken, the guilt of killing his own brother had driven him to the very brink of madness, and the only thing he had to show for his reign was a dead kingdom… and a dead king.

Scar felt his legs give way, causing him to fall onto his side. There was no getting up now. This piece of dirt would be his deathbed. This piece of dirt would be his grave. Soon he would be food for the vultures and the hyenas that he knew were lurking around him, waiting for him to suck in his final breath before they began to devour him. The former king's eyes slowly started to close, and his hearing began to become even more muffled than before. Death's sweet and forgiving embrace was so close to him, ready to pull him into her cold arms… This was it.

"Daddy!"

Scar's eyes shot open, his eyes wide and his hearing as sharp as ever. He weakly lifted his head up to see a young cub frantically running towards his broken body. As the cub grew closer, Scar could see that it was none other than his own daughter, Vitani. The young lioness' blue eyes were filled with terror upon seeing the sight of his mangled figure, and sadness when she saw his hopeless eyes.

"Vitani?" Scar uttered, breathing heavily as to keep himself conscious. "Vitani, what are you doing here?"

"I…I came to save you, Daddy." She whimpered, clearly fighting to hold back her tears.

Scar felt a sharp pain in his chest, but it wasn't because of his wounds. Something about his daughter's hopeless quest to save him from death caused his heart to ache, as never before had he seen someone go so far as to help him… ever.

"Vitani…" The lion extended a paw out to his daughter, and began to weakly rub it against her cheek. "You look so much like your mother." He spoke, as he gazed deep into her eyes. He found a sense of warmth and comfort in looking upon his daughter's visage. He had never been a good father. He had neglected her, never paid any attention to her, never even shown any true form of affection towards her, and yet here she was, ready to help him any way she could.

"Daddy!" She cried, shaking her head and pushing her father's paw down with her own. "We don't have time for that!" The cub began pushing her nose against his neck, trying to somehow help him back onto his feet. Though it was raining, Scar could still feel her salty tears run down his mane and over his torn skin. "We've got to get you out of here before the hyenas show up!"

Scar's eyes widened at her words, realizing the danger she had put herself in my straying so far from Pride Rock. "Vitani! You have to go back to Pride Rock!" He barked, feeling a sharp pain course through his body for each syllable he spoke. "It's too dangerous out here for you to be here!"

"I'm not afraid of any stupid hyenas!" She yelled back, continuing in her valiant, albeit hopeless attempt to help her wounded father back up onto all four paws.

"Who's stupid, now?" A familiar nasally voice cackled over the sound of the rain.

Scar could visibly see the hairs on the back of Vitani's neck rise when the words rang in her ears. She peered over her father's head and saw at least seven pairs of glowing yellow eyes beaming at her and her father like they were a four course meal. The young cub tried to maintain a strong front, but her frightened eyes betrayed her.

"It looks like we get an appetizer _and_ a king sized meal." Shenzi laughed with an evil grin.

The cub's entire body started to shake as she tried to stand between the hyenas and her father, but the brave lioness stood her ground, nonetheless. "S..s..stay away f..f..from my Da-"

"Vitani!" Scar's roared, causing the frightened cub to jump. She turned around to see her bleeding and battered father pull himself back onto his feet, blood still pouring from his wounds. After winning the battle against is own wounds; even if it was only a temporary one, the former king of the Pride Lands began to trudge towards the hyenas, standing between them and his daughter. "You're not going to lay a paw on her." He snarled.

The pack began to back up, taken back by Scar's sudden recovery, but even more taken back by his willingness to fight all of them at once. After a brief stare-down, Scar let out a bellowing roar, causing the hyenas to scurry away, though it would only be momentary.

Completely speechless, Vitani watched with awe as her father turned to face her, stumbling down to her level, and getting eye-to-eye with her. After taking a moment to gauge what she had just seen, the cub's ice-blue eyes began to light up, sparkling even though the rain.

"Daddy!" She began to nuzzle his mane, wrapping her paws around his neck and gripping onto him, never wanting to let go. "I knew you'd be okay! I knew you would!"

"Vitani…" His tone turned her blood to ice. He tried to comfort her by placing a paw around her, but it did nothing to help her. "No, it's too late for me."

His daughter quickly pulled herself away from him and looked into his green eyes, while her own eyes began to water up again. "What do you mean, 'no'?" She whimpered, feeling a sense of dread overtake her.

Scar began to feel another sharp pain in his heart. Despite all of the neglect she received from him, Scar had never once seen Vitani cry. She was like her mother, never allowing herself to cry, as she believed it was a sign of weakness, and if there was one thing she never wanted to be, it was weak. All she ever strived for was to gain her father's acceptance, to have his praise, to be his little girl. Scar knew that was all she ever wanted, yet he still chose to be a terrible father to her…. Now he could change that.

"I don't have much time left." He uttered, looking her dead in the eyes. "The hyenas will be back, but I can hold them back until you get to safety."

"B…b..bu-"

"Vitani," Scar lowered his head down, allowing their noses to touch. "I've been nothing but a terrible father to you, and you have done nothing but love me in return. The very least I can do for you is using the last moments of life I have left saving yours."

"But I don't want you to die!" Her tears flowed like a fountain of sorrow. Vitani knew deep down that it was a miracle her father was even standing right now, but even so, she didn't want to let go of that last bit of hope that he would survive. "I don't want you to go away! I want you to be here, with me!"

Scar had to take a moment to collect himself, looking down at his bloody paws before turning his gaze back to his daughter. "Did I ever tell you what my father used to tell me? And his father before him?"

"N..n..no…" She sobbed.

"Do you see the stars?" Scar tilted his head upwards, Vitani did the same. The rain had begun to clear, and the sight of the night sky had become to grow visible, allowing for them both to look at the little specks of light in the sky.

"Y..yeah." Vitani replied, choking back a few tears.

"The kings of the past look down on us from those stars. So whenever you feel alone, those kings will be there to guide you." Scar had to pause feeling a sharp wave of pain shoot through him. "And so will I."

"I don't understand?"

"No matter what happens, I'll always be with you." Scar reached around and grabbed her with his paw, pulling her closer to him. "I love you, Vitani. You will always be my little girl, and I'll never ever leave your side." As his daughter sobbed into his mane, Scar licked her cheek, choosing to spend the final moments he had left with by showing her the love and affection he had never given her before.

"I'll miss you, Daddy." She cried as she licked his bloodied cheek.

"I'll always be by your side." He replied. "Now go, go back to Pride Rock, and don't look back."

Though she was hesitant at first, the sound of the returning cackling and howls of the hyenas proved to be enough motivation for her to obey her father's orders.

After seeing his daughter vanish into the distance, Scar averted his attention to the hyenas. "I may have lived my life as a coward, but I will not die like one." Scar unsheathed his claws, and used all of the energy he had left to take a stance to pounce. As the hyenas began closing in on him, he leapt into the air, brandishing his claws and teeth, ready to fight to his very last breath.

The sounds of roars and howls echoed through the air, but Vitani continued running, tears steadily streaming down her face. The sounds gave her a good enough idea of what direction the fight was going in. The sound of her father's proud and powerful roars filled her ears, while the desperate cries and wails of hyenas followed.

She wanted to crack a smile, in the desperate hope that her father would prevail. However, soon the roars became less and less frequent, and the howls and wails began to turn into twisted laughter. Then shortly after, all that could be heard was the maniacal laughter of the hyenas.

Vitani could feel her heart drop, knowing that at that moment, her king, her hero, her Daddy was no more. But she'd never forget this. She'd never forget his act of bravery, choosing to fight to the very last breath so he could save her. She didn't care about what the other lions said about her father, and she didn't care about this new King Simba. As far as she was concerned, Scar, her father, would always be her one and true king.

"I love you Daddy, I'll never forget you." She whimpered as a lone tear tricked down her cheek, trailing to the ground, landing in one of the bloody footprints her father had left behind.

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Well, I hope you guys enjoyed. I'm not the type of person to ask for reviews, but I'm going to ask, could you please review this, if it's not too much trouble? I just want to know if I was able to capture a touching and sad moment while at the same time keeping a villainous character like Scar in character.

Keep in mind, I'm not asking for praise, if you have any to give, that's awesome. But if you didn't like it for whatever reason, please do tell me why, as every criticism helps make me a better writer.


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